Whitefeather's Only Hope
Whitefeather's Only Hope is created and thought up by Cottonfur Whitekit and Featherkit's Adventure: Whitekit bounced around the nursery happily. "Come on, Spottedkit! It'll be so much fun!" She said excitedly. She and Featherkit had been trying to coax her out of the den since they had opened their eyes about five moons ago, but the young black and white spotted she-kit refused to do anything her sisters found fun and exciting. "If we were meant to be out of the den and in the woods, we would be apprentices already." Spottedkit reasoned, she had always been the one to stick around with Nightpoppy, their mother and do all the boring stuff although, she was more cautious then her sisters and that also helped her from getting hurt or in trouble, like the time when Featherkit and Whitekit promised her that playing around in the briars could do no harm whatsoever, Spottedkit still remembered laughing at them when they came back with briars all over them, Nightpoppy and Darksky had been picking the briars off of them for what felt like forever. Featherkit rolled her eyes. "Let her do what she wants! You and I can go do fun stuff and she can stick around in the den and talk with mom if she wants to. It's her loss. Plus, when are we ever going to find another time when mom and all the other queens are out of the den!" Featherkit told Whitekit who nodded excitedly. "Whatever, mousebrain. We'll tell you what it's like on the other side!" Whitekit said and darted with Featherkit out into the forest. Whitekit stepped on a twig and bristled when a huge snap sounded. "Stupid, twig!" Whitekit hissed and swipped a paw at it, pretending it was an enemy warrior. "Shut it, mousebrain!" Featherkit hissed at Whitekit as she saw Briarleaf, a big black warrior with peircing amber eyes, padding around the forest. Briarleaf had turned around when she heard the twig snap and seemed to look stright at the bush in which Featherkit and Whitekit were hiding, it was hard for Whitekit to hide during newleaf because of her bright white pelt, but Briarleaf soon shrugged and went back to hunting the quail she was after. Whitekit let out a long drawn out sighed, she had been holding her breathe since Featherkit snapped at her. Featherkit snorted softly and padded further out into the forest. Whitekit stopped and flicked her ears. "Did you hear that?" She asked when she heard a deep growl coming from a bush. "Mousebrain, your scared. Go crawl back to mother." Featherkit snorted, just as she said that, a huge dark animal jumped out from behind the bush, scooped Featherkit up in its jaws and shook her around rapidly. Featherkit pulled out her small, but sharp claws and started clawing at the animals face. Featherkit yelped in surprised, when she was slamed into a nearby tree, breaking her frail neck and dying instantly. Her small body slumped onto the ground. Whitekit yowled in surprise as a huge black paw collided with her face and sent her flying into the same tree that killed Featherkit only seconds before. Whitekit spun around in mid air and only just excaped a severe injury, although, she did hit her head hard enough for her to see stars. As she was blacking out she heard someone call her name and saw blury outlines of her mother, father, and several other warriors and apprentices she didn't know start to fight the dark creature, then, she blacked out and saw no more. A Funeral for Featherkit: Whitekit's eyes fluttered open and she looked around. "Oh your awake!" A voice said somewhere behind her. Whitekit jerked her head around to see who was talking to her and and felt a severe pain in her muzzle and neck. "Don't worry!" The voice said, sounding frantic. "Your back in camp and in the medicine den. You bruised your neck and your muzzle is a little crooked and bruised as well, but you should be fine. Oh and I'm Lilyflower." Lilyflower said smiling at Whitekit. "What happened to Featherkit? Where is she?" Whitekit asked looking all around the den for her sister. Lilyflower's face got sad and dark. "You're very lucky. You survived the attack from that dark creature. Your sister, however, didn't. I'm sorry, Whitekit. She's dead." Lilyflower said and bowed her head. Small tears appeared on Whitekit's face as she remembered all the good times she had shared with Featherkit. The day they had opened their eyes, they had opened them at the same time, a few minutes before Spottedkit had and raced to be the first out of the den, only to be stopped by their mother, Nightpoppy. She remembered when they were a moon old and they snuck out of the den and they got caught when they stalked their way to the camp exit. She remembered every little detail and fun thing they had ever done together, but they would never get to do those fun things ever again. "It'll be okay." Lilyflower said. "We've given her a funeral. She hunts with StarClan." She said sadly and gazed up at the sky. Whitekit nodded glumly. "Oh my baby!" Nightpoppy cried as she raced in. "We were so worried about you and then Spottedkit told me that you and Featherkit went out in the woods, she was so crushed and she was in tears. Oh my baby!" She said rapidly and licked Whitekit's face. Whitekit flinched away. "Stop!" Whitekit snapped and Nightpoppy stopped. "Sorry." Nightpoppy said. "I was just worried about you." She said and padded out of the den. Finchstar padded in the den and stared emotionless at Whitekit. Whitekit stared back, she had never seen Finchstar but could telled instantly that he was leader, he was a huge brown tom with broad shoulders, white paws, and a white tipped tail, but the most startling features on him were his deep amber eyes that Whitekit felt cut right through her and knew her deepest, darkest secrets. "Whitekit." Finchstar said in his deep voice. Whitekit snapped awake from her daze. "Yes?" Whitekit said, a little uncertain. "Why did you go out of camp? Why did you risk your life? Did you know that your little stunt lost your father?" Finchstar asked emotionlessly. Whitekit flinched. "I wanted to explore and be like a warrior." She said softly and Finchstar continued to stare at her. "I didn't know I was risking my life. And I didn't know that it was my fault or that my father had even died until now." She said, tears coming to her eyes. Finchstar nodded and padded out of the den. Lilyflower rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him." She purred. "He does have a heart. Really he does." She said smiling. Whitekit snorted and fell asleep. The next day, Whitekit was feeling much better, she padded out of the medicine cat den and went back to the nursery. Spottedkit sat up straight when Whitekit walked it. Tears appeared in Spottedkit's eyes. "I'm glad your okay." She purred. Whitekit stared at Spottedkit. She wasn't Featherkit, Whitekit had never been very close to Spottedkit and didn't like her as much. Spottedkit always seemed like such a scardy cat and a know-it-all. Whitekit snarled and the gleam in Spottedkit's eyes fadded. "Whitekit!" Nightpoppy snapped. "Be nicer to your sister!" She said and brought Spottedkit closer to her. "She isn't Featherkit though!" Whitekit cried, voice cracking with emotion. Spottedkit started to cry. "She is still your sister, and she loves you." Nightpoppy said and Spottedkit nodded. Whitekit felt bad. "I'm sorry Spottedkit, I didn't mean it." She said and padded back out of the den. Finchstar stood up on Fallen Log proudly. "All cat's old enough to catch their own prey, gather around Fallen Log for a Clan meeting." His call echoed across the Clan. Nightpoppy padded out of the den with Spottedkit and Whitekit soon followed. Eaglepaw and Leafpaw padded out from the apprentices den and Lightdapple and Flowerlight padded from the warriors den. "Today I am proud to annouce that we will have two Warriors." Finchstar called and stared at Eaglepaw and Leafpaw who looked about ready to pass out. "And two apprentices." He added and stared at Spottedkit and Whitekit. Spottedkit's eyes were wide and she cast a glance over at Lilyflower, but quickly looked away. Whitekit smiled and her eyes got wide. "Eaglepaw, Leafpaw." Finchstar said and the two apprentices padded up. "I call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices. Eaglepaw, do you promise to follow the warrior code for as long as you shall live?" Finchstar asked. "I do." Eaglepaw said in awe. "Eaglepaw, from this day you shall be called Eaglewing." Finchstar said and Eaglewing padded up and licked Finchstar's shoulder. "Leafpaw, do you promise to follow the warrior code for as long as you shall live?" Finchstar asked. Leafpaw nodded sharply. "I do." She said. "Leafpaw, from this day you will be known as Leafshadow." Finchstar said and Leafshadow padded up and licked Finchstar's shoulder just as Eaglewing had. "Whitekit, Spottedkit." Finchstar said. Whitekit and Spottedkit both padded up. "Spottedkit, from this day, until you earn your warrior name your name will be Spottedpaw. Leafshadow will be your mentor." Finchstar called. Spottedpaw and Leafshadow padded closer to eachother and touched noses. "Whitekit, from this day until you earn your warrior name you will be called Whitepaw. I, Finchstar, will be your mentor." Finchstar said and touched noses with Whitepaw. "The ceremony is now over!" Finchstar called and jumped off of Fallen Log. "Um...Finchstar." Spottedpaw said. Finchstar turned around sharply. "Oh, it's you Spottedpaw. What do you want?" He asked. "I-I-I-I was just wondering if I could be Medicine Cat Apprentice." Spottedpaw said shyly. "What's this about?" Lilyflower asked padding up "Of course you can be my apprentice!" Lilyflower purred. Spottedpaw smiled and nodded respectfully. She always knew, since she was a kit, that she wanted to be a medicine cat. She couldn't deal with the fighting and she wasn't very daring, she couldn't even go out of the den until they became apprentices so it didn't to much of a surprise to both Whitekit and her mother, Nightpoppy, or anyone else in the Clan, that Spottedpaw had chosen to follow the path of a medicine cat. Finchstar hopped up on Fallen Log again. "Spottedpaw has decided that she wants to follow in our medicine cat, Lilyflower's paw steps and has become her apprentice. That is all." Finchstar called and padded back off of Fallen Log. Whitepaw padded over to Finchstar. "Can I go explore the territory a little?" She asked sweetly. Finchstar grunted, meaning not to go to far. Whitepaw darted off, leaving skid marking in the soil under her. Whitepaw glaced up, she couldn't see the sky out in woods like she could when she was in the nice open space of camp. Hundreds upon hundreds of trees formed a thick canopy, allowing only small streams of light to excape to the ground below. Whitepaw thought about her sister, Featherkit, who would have loved the feel of the sun on her face and the soil between her claws. Whitepaw winced. Her little stunt had costed her not only her beloved sister, but also her father. A single tear ran down her face and fell onto the weeds and soil at her paws. Feeling even worse then she had before she left camp, Whitepaw padded back to camp, dragging her tail in the dirt. Finchstar's gaze followed Whitepaw through the camp, not wavering even a centimeter from Whitepaw's spot. "Whitepaw!" He called to his apprentice. Whitepaw froze and slowly turned her head to look at her mentor "Yes, Finchstar?" She replied, reluctently. "I'm taking you out for a hunting session." Finchstar called back. "I'm so excited!" Whitepaw yelled. "Stop," Finchstar hissed, "You are an apprentice. Not a kit. Show some pride for your Clan and act your age." Whitepaw looked down at her paws, feeling stupid for ever acting like that in front of the Clan leader. "I'm sorry, Finchstar. It won't happen again." Whitepaw insisted. Finchstar gave a sharp nod. "You make sure of that. Now, let's hunt." He told her and started for the woods, Whitepaw trailing behind him. After a while of padding around, Finchstar stopped abruptly. "Do you smell that?" He asked Whitepaw who nodded excitedly. "Get down like this," Finchstar told Whitepaw and got down in the hunters crouch and stared at a rabbit sitting in the middle of a group of trees, "and slowly inch your way forward until you get close enough that you can pounce on it." Finchstar said and sprang forward, landing on the surprised rabbit, and breaking its neck with hardly any strain. Whitepaw stared at her mentor in awe. She opened her mouth to ask if she could try, but she was cut off by a low growl and a rustling in the bushes. Finchstar got up and sniffed at the bushes. Seconds later, the dark creature that had killed Darksky and Featherkit raced out of the bushes and attacked Finchstar whom yelped in surprise and shock. Whitepaw stared in horror and raced to a hole in a nearby tree, trying to block out the horror unfolding in front of her. She peeked out and saw a flurry of claws scratching and heard a few crys from Finchstar. Before long, the dark creature grew bored of Finchstar and stalked away. Whitepaw darted out of her hiding place and over to her leader. "Finchstar." Whitepaw whispered, voice cracking with emotion. Finchstar was severly scratched and had deep gashes all over. "Get Lilyfl..." Finchstar begain and let out one last sigh. MORE COMING SOON.